Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) Raised to Hold at BidaskClub

BidaskClub upgraded shares of Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday, BidAskClub reports.

KALU has been the topic of a number of other reports. ValuEngine lowered Kaiser Aluminum from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Kaiser Aluminum from a sell rating to a neutral rating and set a $97.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research lowered Kaiser Aluminum from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $110.00.

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NASDAQ KALU traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $100.14. 2,723 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 95,216. The stock has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a PE ratio of 15.49 and a beta of 1.07. Kaiser Aluminum has a one year low of $83.29 and a one year high of $114.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $92.11 and a 200-day moving average of $97.41. The company has a current ratio of 3.63, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $375.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $388.25 million. Kaiser Aluminum had a return on equity of 14.23% and a net margin of 5.96%. Kaiser Aluminum’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.68 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kaiser Aluminum will post 7.2 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 25th were given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 24th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. Kaiser Aluminum’s payout ratio is 37.09%.

In other news, EVP John Malcolm Donnan sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $500,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jack A. Hockema sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.96, for a total value of $1,199,500.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,550 shares of company stock worth $2,380,691 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in Kaiser Aluminum by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 6,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $669,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund raised its stake in Kaiser Aluminum by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund now owns 10,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,144,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Piedmont Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Kaiser Aluminum by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Piedmont Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,058 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Kaiser Aluminum by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,653 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $487,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Kaiser Aluminum by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 25,020 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,442,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. 98.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.